International Singapore: Law, Disputes and Diplomacy — a part of the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos.
Part F describes the institutions through which Singapore offers legal certainty to the region, the corresponding feature to international Geneva.
This part belongs to Singapore as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos, published here in full, section by section.
The Rule of Law as Economic Infrastructure
A financial centre sells promises. A bank accepts a deposit on the promise of repayment. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe judiciary and the Supreme Court of Singapore
Independence on 9 August 1965 did not interrupt the work of the courts. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesAnti-corruption policy and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau
Corruption was made illegal in the Straits Settlements in 1871, when the Penal Code described in Chapter B.I was enacted. Little concrete action followed. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesLegal certainty as a competitive factor
Legal certainty is a broader idea than the absence of corruption. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesInternational rankings and their limits
Singapore’s reputation for clean government is reflected in every international comparison of corruption. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe rule of law in a strong state
Legal theory distinguishes between a thin and a thick conception of the rule of law. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Rule of Law as Economic Infrastructure: Comparison with Geneva, Hong Kong and Dubai
Geneva’s legal infrastructure rests on a different foundation. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Rule of Law as Economic Infrastructure: summary
Singapore’s courts continue the colonial Supreme Court, made national in 1969, freed from the Privy Council in 1994 and restructured in 2021. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSIAC and International Arbitration
A financial centre lives on contracts. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe International Arbitration Act
Singapore's modern arbitration law was built in two steps. The first concerned the enforcement of foreign awards. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Singapore International Arbitration Centre
The Singapore International Arbitration Centre was established on 1 July 1991 as a not-for-profit organisation. Its beginnings were modest. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe SIAC Rules and expedited procedures
SIAC's arbitration rules have been revised at regular intervals after public consultation. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSingapore as a seat: courts and enforcement
The attraction of a seat depends largely on its courts. The Singapore courts have consistently described their role as one of support and limited supervision. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesCommodity and trade disputes in arbitration
Trade disputes form the largest single category of SIAC's caseload. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesPractical consequences for parties and advisers
For an Asian commercial transaction, Singapore offers a Model Law statute, experienced courts, an established institution and a large pool of arbitrators. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSingapore, Geneva, Hong Kong and Dubai
Switzerland and Singapore reached similar positions by different paths. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSIAC and International Arbitration: summary
Singapore became a leading arbitral seat through the New York Convention in 1986 and the International Arbitration Act 1994. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe SICC, Mediation and the Singapore Convention
A financial centre needs more than banks, funds and family offices. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Singapore International Commercial Court
The idea of an international commercial court was first put forward by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the Opening of the Legal Year in January 2013. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesForeign lawyers and international judges
The defining feature of the SICC is its bench. The Chief Justice may designate High Court judges and International Judges to hear its cases. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Singapore International Mediation Centre
Mediation in Singapore did not begin with international business. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe Singapore Convention on Mediation
The gap that Arb-Med-Arb filled by a procedural device needed a treaty to be closed directly. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesEnforcement of judgments across borders
A judgment is worth only as much as the assets against which it can be enforced. The New York Convention allows arbitral awards to be enforced in 172 states. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe SICC, Mediation and the Singapore Convention: Practical consequences for clients and advisers
The SICC, the SIMC and the Singapore Convention widen the choice that parties face when they draft a dispute resolution clause. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesComparison with Geneva, Zurich, Dubai and Hong Kong
Geneva and Singapore both present themselves as places of law, each with its own set of institutions. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe SICC, Mediation and the Singapore Convention: summary
The Singapore International Commercial Court, launched in January 2015 as a division of the High Court, combines Singapore judges with 26 International Judges from common law and civil law… Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSmall-State Diplomacy: ASEAN and Strategic Balance
A financial centre lives on the confidence of people who will never visit it. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesThe founding of ASEAN
Singapore did not seek independence on its own. It entered the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 and left it two years later after political and communal tensions that Chapter C.II describes. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSmall-state realism
Singapore's foreign policy rests on a sober view of its own position. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesTrade agreements and economic diplomacy
Few economies depend on trade as heavily as Singapore. Its trade in goods and services was equivalent to about 320 per cent of gross domestic product in 2020. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesNeutrality and its limits
Outside observers sometimes describe Singapore as neutral, a term its own government avoids. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesDiplomacy as a service to the financial centre
The first service that diplomacy renders to the financial centre is predictability. A client who places assets in Singapore makes a bet on the jurisdiction over a horizon of ten or twenty years. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSmall-State Diplomacy: ASEAN and Strategic Balance: practical consequences
For banks, asset managers and trust companies, Singapore's foreign policy creates both opportunities and obligations. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSmall-State Diplomacy: ASEAN and Strategic Balance: Comparison with Geneva and Hong Kong
Switzerland and Singapore are both small states that have turned their foreign policy into an asset for their financial centres. Their methods differ. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesSmall-State Diplomacy: ASEAN and Strategic Balance: summary
Singapore became independent in 1965 without security or a hinterland and placed its survival inside a regional framework when its foreign minister Rajaratnam signed the Bangkok Declaration that… Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesInternational and Regional Institutions in Singapore
A financial centre lives from more than banks, exchanges and courts. It also lives from the institutions that gather governments, central banks and experts around common problems. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesAPEC and regional economic cooperation
Regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific began with economists and businessmen. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesRegional financial surveillance and cooperation
The Asian financial crisis of 1997, which Chapter D.III examines, left East Asian governments with a sharp lesson. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesCentral bank cooperation and innovation centres
The central banks of East Asia and the Pacific cooperate through the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks, established in 1991. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesStandard setters and regional offices
The global standard setters for finance sit in Europe. The Financial Stability Board, established in April 2009 as the successor of the Financial Stability Forum, is hosted by the BIS in Basel. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesPractical consequences for the financial centre
The international institutions in Singapore are small employers compared with the financial sector itself. Their value lies in information and in contacts. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesInternational Singapore and international Geneva
The difference between the two cities begins with numbers. Read more Singapore · Law and DisputesInternational and Regional Institutions in Singapore: summary
Singapore hosts a small number of international organisations whose subjects lie close to economics and finance, among them the APEC Secretariat, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, the… Read more